Episode 131 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz Challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our resident quiz champions today,

are the...

Now, this friends and family team

all live in and around Airdrie in North Lanarkshire

and take their team name from the distinctive strip

worn by their local football team, Airdrie Utd.

Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Tommy, I'm 35, and I'm a resource planner.

Hi. I'm Darren. I'm 33, and I'm a police officer.

Hi. I'm Billy. I'm 34 years old and I'm a UK sales manager.

Hi. I'm Paul, I'm 38 and I'm a resource planner.

Hi. I'm Michael. I'm 38, and I'm a call centre team manager.

-Tommy and team, welcome.

-How are you doing?

-Great to see you.

-So Airdrie Utd have a diamond on their strip, do they?

-They do, yes.

And you support them, all of you? Or most of you?

-Mmm, no.

-Just you?

No. None of us support them. We're just from the area.

-Right.

-And we have a soft spot for them because we are from that area.

-Oh, right.

-But we support another couple of teams in Scotland.

OK. Good luck, good luck. Let's see how you do.

Every day there is £1,000 in cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money

rolls over to the next show.

So, Diamond Geezers, the Eggheads have won the last ten games,

which means £11,000 says you can't beat them today.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Music.

Who would like this?

I think it's Paul's, isn't it? Paul's.

-That's your subject.

-This is you.

-This is your thing.

OK. I'll take that.

Paul? OK, against which Egghead, Paul?

-You can choose any of them.

-It's up to yourself.

Aye. Barry?

-Can I take Barry, please, Jeremy?

-You certainly can.

-Barry, you like your music.

-I'm liking it more now that I'm winning them.

Ah. There we are. Don't be put off by that.

Don't be put off by that.

Paul from the Diamond Geezers

versus Barry from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

I'll ask you three multiple-choice questions on Music in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Paul, you can choose. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, Jeremy, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

Which American singer's UK hit singles

have included All I Wanna Do and Every Day Is A Winding Road?

Is it...

It's a few years ago now, I think, those songs.

Erm. It's not Shania Twain.

And not LeAnn Rimes. But I'm going to go for Sheryl Crow.

Sheryl Crow's the right answer. Well done.

Here's your question, Barry. In a 2004 poll,

which singer was voted the nation's favourite ambassador

to welcome aliens to Earth...

BARRY LAUGHS

..should they visit?

Oh, that's a question-and-a-half.

Well, I could go for the one who looks most like an alien there,

which is probably Ozzy Osbourne.

Or somebody who's got perhaps a gentler approach,

which could be Des O'Connor.

I'm going to take my heart in my hands and plump for Ozzy Osbourne.

Ozzy Osbourne is the right answer.

I don't know who conducted the poll, but it's a great question.

OK, Paul.

Who wrote the lyrics for the songs Ten Cents A Dance and Falling In Love With Love?

I'm not familiar with either of those songs.

Something's telling me Stephen Sondheim for some reason.

It's the first name that really jumped out there out of those three.

So I'm going to go for Stephen Sondheim.

He's the most famous of them.

But it's not. It's Lorenz Hart.

Barry, the Taubman Approach, named after its creator, Dorothy Taubman,

is a method of learning to play which instrument? Is it...

I'll discount trumpet immediately.

I don't think you need an approach to learn how to play the trumpet.

I'm not sure. I think the only approach I know,

teaching method that I know for the violin,

is the Suzuki method.

So, on that basis, I think I'll go for the piano.

Piano is the right answer.

OK, Paul.

Good luck. You need this one right,

otherwise you've been knocked out.

Which record label was set up by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera in 1976

and had chart success with acts such as Madness, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury? Is it..

Hmm.

Erm...I'm going to go with Stiff.

Stiff rings a bell. Kinda punk, along those similar sorts of lines.

So I'm going to go for Stiff.

Yep. Spot on.

Well done.

Very, very good. A very exciting record label it was, too.

Stiff is correct.

Barry, which member of the Beatles was temporarily replaced by Jimmy Nicol

on a 1964 tour

when illness forced him to stay in hospital? Is it...

Ooh, goodness. That's going back some.

I don't remember this as well.

So I'm going to have to have a think about this.

Something at the back of my mind is saying George Harrison,

but it's a very slight something.

I've nothing else to go on, so I'll go for George Harrison.

No, actually. Ringo Starr is the answer, Barry.

So it's 2-all after three questions.

We go to sudden death. Paul, bit more difficult for you. I don't give you alternatives.

From 2001 to 2003,

who won three consecutive Brit Awards for best British male solo artist?

I think, at that time, Robbie Williams was quite popular.

He was in the charts quite often.

So I'm going to go for Robbie Williams.

Robbie Williams is quite right.

The stakes are high now, Barry.

In January 1965,

the Righteous Brothers single You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

was joined in the UK charts by a rival version

sung by which female singer?

Ooh. I could have managed the Righteous Brothers.

I think that might've been Cilla Black.

Cilla Black is the right answer.

OK. Level on sudden death, but death can be very sudden.

Which song was a UK hit single in 1977

for both Thelma Houston and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes?

Paul?

Oh.

Something's trying to get out with that band.

And I can't think.

It's a complete guess.

I was going to say Dancing In The Streets,

but...erm...I'll go for that, but I'm pretty sure it's not right.

-No, it's not that. It's Don't Leave Me This Way.

-Agh.

OK, Barry, if you get this one right, you're in the final round.

Au Fond Du Temple Saint

is a notable duet from which opera by Bizet?

Ah, yes. # Au fond du temple saint... #

It's from The Pearl Fishers.

Pearl Fishers is quite right. Well done for singing it as well.

Some of the words may have been mispronounced, but we don't know which ones.

Barry, you've taken the round.

Music has gone your way.

Paul, sorry, you've been knocked out.

Both of you, come back here. Rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still intact. The shells are in place.

The next subject is Science.

Who would like Science?

-That's pretty simple. We have a scientist on our team, so...

-Do we?

-Yeah.

-You hope. We hope.

-It's Billy, is it?

-Yep.

-OK.

Billy, and which Egghead? Can't be Barry.

-Judith.

-Aye. Aye.

Judith, please, Jeremy.

So Billy from Diamond Geezers

versus Judith from the Eggheads, on Science.

And please, if you can go to the Question Room.

OK, three question on Science. Here we go. Billy, would you like the first or second set?

I'll put the pressure on Judith and go second please, Jeremy.

Good luck. Hope it works for you. Judith, launched in 2011,

NASA's Juno mission aimed to discover the origins of which planet?

Well, Juno, in mythology, was married to Jupiter.

So maybe Juno went after Jupiter.

-Jupiter.

-Jupiter.

You don't sound very certain.

-No.

-It is the right answer, Judith. Well done.

Billy,

in 2012, which film director travelled to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

in a deep-diving submersible? Was it...

Hmm.

I'm not sure. I'm going to have to take a guess, Jeremy.

Let me think. The one that's looking straight at me is the middle one.

James Cameron, please.

James Cameron is quite right.

Well done.

Judith, here's your question.

The endangered species known as the Karpathos frog

is endemic to which country?

K-A-R-P-A-T-H-O-S.

Well, it sounds Greek.

I think, linguistically, it sounds Greek,

so I'm going to say Greece.

And Greece is absolutely right, Judith. Well done.

OK, Billy, back to you.

Ivory is the equivalent of which constituent of human teeth?

Trying to work out... I don't think it's cementum.

I think it's...

Again, it's going to have to be a guess,

but first thoughts were pulp.

So I'm going to go with pulp.

Dentine is the answer, Billy.

Dentine.

Judith, here's your question.

In 1987 and 1988,

which US state was affected by the so-called Syringe Tide Incident

in which significant amounts of medical waste were washed onto the shore?

Ah.

Well, which has got a good, strong current?

It could be any of those.

I don't know. I'm going to sort of go for the Pacific, as it were.

Well, am I?

There'd be more complaints in Florida, wouldn't there?

I think I'm going to say Florida.

No, it's right side of the States, but it's New Jersey.

Oh, what a pity.

So you've got a chance to pull level now,

Billy, but if you get this wrong, you will be out.

What type of bird was the prehistoric kairuku,

remains of which have been found in New Zealand? Is it...

I would say it was definitely not emu.

I don't think it would be crane,

and I think, based on the fact that New Zealand's near the pole,

I would go for penguin, so penguin is my answer.

Penguin is the right answer, Billy. Well done.

You've drawn level with Judith. We go to sudden death, Judith.

Bit harder cos I don't give you alternatives.

In the computing abbreviation VDU,

for what does the letter D stand?

Visual display unit.

-So display.

-Display is correct. Well done.

On to you, Billy.

The name of the element rubidium is derived

from the Latin word for what colour?

For some reason orange and copper bizarrely spring into mind,

so... Um...I'm not 100% sure, of course, but

I'd like to say orange, Jeremy.

No. It's...sort of ruby I think is the derivation here.

So "rubidus" is the word and the translation's "red".

-OK.

-It's red. And that means you've been knocked out.

After a doughty display,

Judith is the final on Science.

Come back to us and we'll play the next round.

So, as it stands, the Challengers have lost two brains now from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

The next subject is Geography.

Now, who is the travelled person here?

-Well, Billy...

-Billy?

-Not two days in a row in the same country, so...

-A travelling salesman?

So you've got Michael, Darren or yourself?

That'll be me, Jeremy.

OK, Tommy. Against which Egghead? Can't be Judith or Barry.

Who do you think?

-Tremendous Knowledge?

-I'll try Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

-Give it a go.

-OK.

Tommy from Diamond Geezers

versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads, on Geography.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

So we're on Geography here.

Three questions. Multiple choice.

Tommy, you can choose the first or second set.

First, please.

Good luck. The Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheik

is particularly popular for which activity? Is it...

Right, OK.

Well, it's definitely not skiing,

because they don't have any snow.

Erm, I would imagine there's not much mountaineering going on there

and because it's on a beach,

I would say diving.

Diving is the right answer. Well done.

Dave, how many English counties lie on the border with Scotland?

Well, I don't think it's 7.

Don't think it's 5.

Erm, let me have a think, here.

Make sure...

I think we're talking Cumbria and Northumberland.

I think we're talking 2.

2 is quite right.

Well done. Tommy,

Cabrera is a small island in which group?

Right, I'd rule out the Orkneys straight away.

And Cabrera sounds...

Erm... I think it sounds sort of Spanish,

so I'll have a kind of educated guess at Balearic Islands.

Very good. Balearic is the right answer. Well done.

You're in the lead. Let's see what Tremendous Knowledge Dave does.

The Deccan Plateau

is a large plateau in which country, Dave?

Deccan is D-E-C-C-A-N.

It's in India.

Very good. Straight there.

-You been to it?

-No. I'd like to go there.

I'd love to go to India.

Mrs Tremendous Knowledge Dave, you know,

has got other places in mind.

-Has she?

-But me, certainly India.

Bit of cricket tour and good trawl around on the trains.

-I'd love to go.

-Yup.

India is the right answer. Well done. Tommy, your question.

Gerlach Peak, the highest point in the Carpathians, is in which country?

Carpathians. OK.

All Baltic sort of area countries.

Right. I don't know this one, Jeremy. Erm...

Give myself a chance here, I hope, and guess Hungary.

That is just a guess. I don't think it'll be Slovakia.

I'll guess Hungary.

-Dave, do you know?

-I thought it was Slovakia.

Yeah, Slovakia is the right answer.

Not Hungary. So, two out of three, Tommy.

Ooh, now, let's see if Dave

can take his place in the final.

The Salton Sea, one of the world's largest inland seas,

is located in which US state? Is it...

DAVE CHUCKLES

Logic says I should go for Utah or Ohio,

but I'll go against logic and go with California, down the middle.

California is the right answer.

-Got away with it.

-You got away with it big time. Well done, Dave.

-You're in the final. Tommy, sorry.

-OK.

It's not a crisis yet, but you have been knocked out.

-It's getting there, though.

-It's getting there.

OK, if you come back to us, we'll assess the level of the crisis.

So, as it stands, the Challengers have lost three brains.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain from the final round.

And the subject is Politics.

Right, OK.

-We got to go for it.

-I need to sacrifice.

-It's not a sacrifice.

-I need to sacrifice...

-I spoke to you about this.

-It's my least favourite but I need to go for it.

-No. This is not a sacrifice.

-This is not a sacrifice.

-This is not a sacrifice?

Regardless of what Michael says, it's not a sacrifice.

Go on, Michael. Think about the mind games.

You're going in this to win it.

-What do you think?

-It's with you.

-Er...

I'll go Pat.

Michael from Diamond Geezers versus Pat.

And, please, if you can go to the Question Room.

OK. Three questions. Multiple choice. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Who delivered a speech in the House of Commons

in 1940 that ended with the line,

"This was their finest hour"? Was it...

OK.

All three it could be, from my point of view.

No-one's really standing out.

I have to go for the obvious one.

Being the war, so I will go for Winston Churchill.

I'm glad you did. It is Winston Churchill.

Michael, well done. Pat,

the Defence of the Realm Act,

which gave the Government wide-ranging powers,

was passed at the beginning of which war?

I'm in trouble here.

I just don't know.

I'll go for World War II, and I may well be wrong.

Barry's reacted with surprised. Tell us why, Barry.

It was World War I, because that was the first time we, as a country,

were in serious trouble, and we needed

all the additional controls that act provided.

OK. World War I is the answer.

Pat. This is looking hopeful.

I may be clutching at straws but, Michael, you're in the lead

on Politics against Pat,

and he's a fearsome player in this round and almost all others.

According to official sources, the birth of the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il

was foretold by which bird?

As a total guess, I will go for...

owl.

It's not an owl.

It's a swallow.

Pat, which political cartoonist

created a famous caricature of John Major

wearing his underpants on the outside of his clothes? Was it...

Of those, the one I most directly associate

with specific political caricatures

is probably Gerald Scarfe.

Certainly the spiky Margaret Thatcher.

Did he do a John Major with external underpants?

I think I'll have to go with Gerald Scarfe,

just because he did a lot of standalone caricatures.

You're crashing and burning here, Pat.

It's not Gerald Scarfe. Steve Bell.

So he was the one who did the pants.

Well, well, well. So, if you get this one right,

you are in the final round.

OK.

Between 1970 and 2006, Michael,

what was the name of the alert system used by the Ministry of Defence

to assess potential security threats to the UK?

I think I'll go left this time,

and I think I'll go for the name Arthur.

It's not Arthur.

-Bikini.

-Bikini.

OK.

You've got a point, and Pat's got no points.

Let's see whether Pat can stay in.

In which country, Pat, did the Blue Revolution take place

in the early part of the 21st century,

in an attempt to win women's suffrage? Is it...

Hmm.

The Blue Revolution. Hmm.

I really don't know.

I'm going to guess at Kuwait.

Kuwait is the right answer. Well done.

So you are equal, after three questions, with one point.

And we go to sudden death. I don't give you alternatives.

Michael, in 2011, David Cameron was criticised for saying

what three-word slogan famously used in an advertisement

to the Labour MP Angela Eagle?

I've just got a total memory blank with that.

Erm...

I really can't think.

Erm...

Three-word advertisement?

I'd go with...

just do it.

Let's ask your team.

-We thought that.

-That's what you think it is?

-No, it's, "Calm down, dear."

-Oh, no. ALL: Oh!

He said it in the House of Commons

and got criticised for it. OK, Pat,

there is a bit of a bounce-back by you.

If you get this right, you are in the final.

Salil Shetty became Secretary General of which human rights group in 2010?

2010, human rights group.

Well...

Hmm. I think...

I think I'll go global and say Amnesty International.

The correct answer is Amnesty International. You've taken the round, Pat.

Well done. And sorry, Michael.

You have been knocked out on Politics.

-OK.

-I thought you'd make it for a second.

Come back and we'll play that final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head to heads won't be allowed

to take part in this round. And it's all on this side, I'm afraid.

It's Tommy and Billy and Paul and Michael from Diamond Geezers.

I have to ask you, will you please leave the studio?

Darren, I know this was not the plan.

It certainly wasn't.

Good luck. You're playing to win your team £11,000.

Dave, Kevin, Judith, Pat and Barry,

you're playing for something that money can't buy,

which is the Eggheads' precious reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So the question is, can you with your one brain

overwhelm the Eggheads with their five?

So would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

"Bodice ripper" is a colloquial name for a what?

I'm...

Just given it as a bodice being a...

..sort of sexy undergarment,

I would go for a romance novel.

Romance novel is the right answer.

Good start to get the first one right. Eggheads, all five of you.

Marion Crane is a leading female character in which Alfred Hitchcock film? Is it...

-Psycho?

-Psycho.

Yeah. OK. Everybody happy with that?

Psycho, yeah.

Erm, Marion Crane is in Psycho.

It was very strange watching you all suddenly say the word "psycho".

It looked quite unnerving.

And you are right. Psycho it is.

OK.

Keep on at 'em.

Whose portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire was stolen

from a London gallery in 1876 in an art theft

that created great public interest? Was it...

With Constable, he was known for his landscapes rather than portraits.

I may be wrong on that. My art knowledge is not fantastic.

Erm... I don't know why it's jumped out at me

since you read out the options, Jeremy,

-but I think I'll go with Gainsborough.

-You're right.

Gainsborough is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Eggheads.

In which decade did the productivity campaign called I'm Backing Britain take place?

-I think it was the '60s.

-I think it was the '60s, too.

-I'm sure it was the '60s.

-I'm Backing Britain. Yes.

-Yeah, '60s sounds right.

-I thought it was '60s.

OK.

Not 100% certain, Jeremy, but we all have an instinct for the 1960s.

I'm afraid you're right.

The 1960s is correct.

OK.

Darren, in the 19th century, New Zealand was briefly a dependency

of which Australian state?

Trying to think of my geography of Australia.

Queensland being the largest.

I would think, given its size and its location in Australia,

I'm going to go for Queensland.

Queensland is your answer.

-Do you know?

-ALL: New South Wales.

New South Wales.

Eggheads, if you get this one right, you've taken the contest.

The Scottish lawyer and critic Henry Broome

wrote a notorious review of a work by which young poet in 1808?

I think it's Keats.

That seems a bit early.

-Byron.

-Definitely not Keats.

-Seems a little early for Byron.

There was a famous case

where I think it was in the Edinburgh Review...

-Yes. Scottish.

-..that caused a lot of contention.

About?

I'd have been worrying if Shelley had come up.

I'm more inclined to Byron.

-Mm.

-Coleridge is older.

Cos he was... I mean he was born back in the 1770s.

-Anyway.

-So he wouldn't be a young poet then?

The thing about Keats is that Keats was only born in 1795.

It's definitely not him, then.

-So that would have been pretty precocious.

-It is not him.

-So...

-So what you're saying is, the dates are suggesting Byron?

-The dates are suggesting Byron.

-Coleridge would be 38.

Byron certainly did get some bad reviews from Scottish reviewers.

-OK.

-OK.

-Byron.

He wasn't the only one.

-Yeah.

-But, erm...

Well, I think, on the basis of age, here,

who was the right sort of age at the right time, we'll go for Byron.

Byron is the correct answer, Eggheads.

Good logic from you there. Impressive knowledge.

And we say congratulations, you have won.

Ah! Well, I guess you could've got the New South Wales,

then sudden death, and it wouldn't have been guaranteed.

-I wouldn't have got their questions, either, so...

-Well, thanks for playing so well.

And the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues here.

I'm afraid it does mean that the Diamond Geezers are not going home with the £11,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, many congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£12,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd